Automobile top



M. R. HULL.

AUTOMOBILE TOP.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29. I917. LQLQQQJML, Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

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M. R. HULL.

AUTOMOBILE TOP.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29. 1917.

Patented Aug. 8, 11922.

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W1 4 g ls MATTHEW R. HULL, OF CONNEESVILLE, I I TD TUBING COMPANY, Q33 CONNEBS'VILLE, INDI.

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Application filed March 29 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MATTHEW HULL, a citizen of the United States, residing at (lonnersville, in the county of Fayette and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automobile Tops, of which the following is a specification. I

Heretofore it has been common to use dowels or similar insertable members for attaching removable side panels and windows of'vehicle tops, necessitating the lifting of the deck for the introduction or removal of said insertable .members. This practice has been attended by a less rigid and durable construction which is subject to more looseness and rattle of parts than is acceptable'to a public becoming more exacting with education along these lines- The object of my invention is to add to the rigidity of the deck structure, and to its more permanent attachment to the body, while affording means for the more ready removal and assembly. of the inclosing side members of the top, and also to provide for the removal and assembly of said side members'without loosening the dock supports or raising the deck more than its elasticity will allow it to be easily sprung.

A further object of my invention -is to provide means, of 'which' said removable side members are a part, for so drawing the deck down as to make a close fit against said side members, and of said side members against the body of the vehicle.

I accomplish the above, and other objects which will hereinafter appear, by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an automobile body with a demountable top en bodying my invention, the removable door and side panels on the near side being here removed back to the rear door. Fig. 2 is a section on the line 22 through the front post and windshield. Fig. 3 is a fragment in erspective of the front corner of the dec r-frame and corner plate. Fig. l, is a vertical section through the body and one of the side panels and deck. Fig. 5, is a like section through the door on the opposite side of the vehicle, and Fig. 6, is a perspective view of a midside panel.

Like characters of reference indicate like 1917. Serial. Ho. 158,455.

parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

The body 7 is of any usual. and suitable slze a d design, such as are usually made by the various automobile manufacturers The deck is formed of the longitudinal side members 8, 8, and end member 9, 9, which are commonly of wood, with transverse hows supporting a tight roof, all in the usual manner, but extending the full length of the deck on the inside thereof, and around the corners at front and rear, and extending a suitable distance inwardly of said corners to afford a substantial and strong attachment to the end members of the deck frame are the heavy deck reinforcing rails 10, which reinforce and strengthen an inherently frail structure incident to the advisabilityof-maintaining a light weight deck, the said deck reinforcing rails being composed preferably of iron are fastened at their upper edges by screws ll, to the adjacent frame members 8 and 9. The deck reinforcing rails 10 are wide enough to extend considerable distance below the traine members 8, to form stops and holding member for front posts 19., side panels 13, and rear side windows 14-. The posts and the frames for the panels and windows are of wood, andthey are 'PIOYlClQd with metal. sirew-sockets 15, to receive bolts 16, which arepassed through 17, in the straps l0, and are screwed into threaded sockets in the members 15. The metal screw sockets are retained in place by screws in the manner shown in Fig. 6. The openings 17 in the deck reinforcing rails 10, are elongated into slots to afford adjustment within their lengths for the screws in finding the holes in the members 15. The lower ends of the posts, panels and frames, are secured to the body 7, by plates 19 fastened to the body 7 cpposite plates 20 fastened to the respective members to be fastened to said body, which plates have registering holes for the passage of bolts 21, by which the plates are united and also by which the said removable members, and the deck to which they have been previously fastened, in the manner above described, are drawn down into close contact with the body. This provides a means for closing any crack between the assembled parts of the demountable top and between them and the body, heretofore often occasioned by a springing up or warping of the deck or other parts, and is an important feature of my invention.

Besides the posts 12, the front of the deck is additionally supported by a metal plate 22, longitudinally curved as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, for greater strength, but more particularly to lap from side to front and close the corner gap between the wind shield post and the post 12, and exclude the outer elements. The windshield post is preferably secured to this plate, on each side, by a bolt 23. v I

A back member 24-, of the demountable top, is preferably built integral with the deck, and is fastened to the body in a secure manner, here shown as by connection through suitable members '25, with the usual cape-top irons with which all automobile bodies are equipped.

The demountable door members 26 are fastened rigidly to the door members 27, of the body, by means of metal straps or plates 28 extending from one door member to the other, to both of which they are fastened by screws, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 5.

An outside handle 29, carried by the upper door member, has an inside arm connecting with the knob 30 of the usual inside latchlever, whereby the door can be unlatched down to proper place by means of the bolts 21, after the removable side members have been fastened to the rails 10, as directed.

The demountable door members have single hinges located at the top, approximately in line with the hinges below and a space 4-0, for adjustment in closing is provided.

While I have here shown and described the best form of my invention now known to me, and which has been thoroughly tried in practical use, it is obvious that many of the details may be varied without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I therefore do not desire to be held strictly or un duly to the forms shown, but whatI d0 claim as new and wish to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is i In combination with an open vehicle body a deck providedwith narrow longitudinal side members, means at the front and rear ends of the body for supporting thedeck. a

deck reinforcing rails, and means for re'- movably securing said windows, panels and deck reinforcing rails together. In witness whereof, I have hereunto se my hand and seal at Connersville, Indiana, this 20th day of March, A. I). one thousand nine hundred and seventeen.

MATTHEW R. HULL. [n s] Witnesses EDWARD C. ALBRIGHT, RAYMOND H. CRAWFORD. 

